The answer to one of this years burning question was revealed last night, on the Hasbro UK live chat.

The TRU exclusive silver R2 unit will be available at TRU's in the next 2-3 weeks.

Spend just £30, and get him FREE.

Jargo

10-17-2002, 12:31 PM

I do believe I calculated it right then, the week prior to the DVD release :) no matter, it's soon and there's plenty of them to go round.

jedi_uk73

10-26-2002, 10:02 AM

Got my silver R2 today. Not from TRU though.

£23 (£26 inc p&p) will get you one from R2dtoys.

It's a great looking figure, and the black cardback makes it really stand out.

According to an email I recieved, TRU supplies will NOT be in collector grade condition.

R2dtoys can guarantee c9+ condition, but supplies are getting low.

Jargo

10-26-2002, 12:34 PM

I'm afraid I too weakened and ordered from R2DTOYS. I may yet also go to TRU for a second helping since I have a hankering to build some more armies but I simply wanted to ensure that I got one. I'm an opener so John could send me one with no packaging for all I care. £23 for a single solitary smal figure that's going to be opened? sounds like I'm paying a lot for not much at all but it's all down to how much you want something as to the value you place on it. If I want something badly enough the cost doesn't matter. It's the geting it that matters. The enjoyment of it that matters.
Anyway, hopefully i got my order in before stocks ran dry. I think silver R2 will look excellent stood next to TC-14.

Oh i know what you're thinking, I just made a hypocrite of myself. Possibly, possibly. At least I can admit it though. Do i feel shamed? Not a bit. Shame is not something I care to entertain. Least not very often.

I shall be happy when i have my mits on this litle sucker sometime next week whether he comes on a mint card or a battered and dogeared one. As lomg as all his chroming is intact and he has the requisite paint applications I'll be content. :)

jedi_uk73

10-26-2002, 02:44 PM

You won't be dissapointed with it E.J.

I prefered to buy one from R2dtoys for £23, than go to TRU and pay £30 for stuff I don't want, just to get it for free.

I'm feeling the urge to buy another though.

I'm going to Memorabilia next month, so having one signed by Kenny Baker himself is a must.

Signed in silver pen on a black cardback will look the mutts nuts.

Oooo Suit Me Nicely Sir !!!

whoops, my finger just slipped on that order button :D :D

Jargo

10-26-2002, 03:01 PM

The worst thing my partner can do is go to bed before i do. I sit here all alone downstairs with the internet and the credit card details at my fingertips and...... last night i nearly went overboard and nearly ordered about £700 worth of stuff. I have a habit of window shopping on online stores, adding stuff to thebasket that i want and then seeing how much i would have spent before emptying the basket. I was over at TOY PALACE the other day and managed to cram £800 into the basket. So much money and there was really nothing in the basket but a few HTF figures. One of these days I'll end up hitting the submit button by mistake and god knows where that'll lead.
I'm getting itchy order finger right now for those two new speeders, Dooku and Anakin, and the trash compactor sets. not due 'til next year but when you want to make sure you get something it's sooooo tempting.

Popcorn had the silver R2 listed on their site a while back for just £8 they had a pre-order on it which very quickly got removed presumably after a million orders went in for it. Wonder if they'll still be so cheap if they actually get them in? I mean from what i hear, Popcorn is a small venture, seeing all the higher prices they might bump their price up too "due to unforseen circumstances the loer price we listed has not been possible to achieve, the new price is..." Maybe they'll honour the first so many orders at the lower price or just not bother with it at all exept for in store real world customers who shop with them regularly. Only time will tell.

spanky

10-26-2002, 07:22 PM

E.J, while your shopping you couldnt surf on over to fender.co.uk an pop a E.C Strat (blackie) into your shopping basket?, I'll pay ya back ;). Ive had my silver R2 for a few weeks now, he sits happily next to Saga R2, we all have our weak moments ;-).

jedi_uk73

10-29-2002, 04:51 AM

Just got my second Silver R2 through the post today.

Luverly Jubbly :D

Jargo

10-29-2002, 06:29 AM

Yeah, I got mine today too. Nice - very nice. I had to open him of course. trundle him round his new home and meet the other guys..... him and TC-14 look absolutely fantastic together. Now if Popcorn ship out too that'll make the second one. If not, at least i have him and that I'm thankful for. :happy: Now I just need to make him a drinks tray to carry....

kadamontaga

11-02-2002, 06:30 AM

When is the TRU promotion expected to begin over here? I can't wait for it - I find that collecting Star Wars figures can get very boring, so its nice to have a new way of getting a figure.

jedi_uk73

11-02-2002, 07:48 AM

I popped into my local(ish) TRU last night.

I enquired about the R2 promotion.

They said that they are aware that the promo is soon, possibly next week.

They told me to phone middle of next week when deliveries are due, so hopefully either then or next weekend.

kadamontaga

11-02-2002, 09:07 AM

Thanks jedi_uk73.

I got my girlfriend to phone Derby TRU earlier today and they were completely unaware of the promotion, but said that if its happening the details always arrive on fridays.
Next weekend's looking pretty good then.

Jargo

11-03-2002, 07:39 AM

Next weekend would be leading into the week of the 12th which is when I said it would happen originally using my mystic meg approach. The chick I spoke to in Chester TRU told me two to three weeks so if ya check back she was telling me the truth. If only she was around more often i could pump her for more info... that has connotations that weren't intended. :eek: when i said pump I didn't mean.... nevermind, forget i spoke......... :sur:

Anyway, looks like everyone will get their R2's as long as there's none going out the door by the caseload like there seems to be in Milwauke. That EBAY auction for a case of 32 for $999 is just outrageous!

Lewis

11-05-2002, 09:17 AM

Are your R2's legs the wrong way as reported in this homepage...Ive just ordered mine from R2Dtoys and was wondering :p

jedi_uk73

11-05-2002, 11:42 AM

Poo, both of mine have the legs the wrong way round too :(

Jargo

11-06-2002, 04:40 PM

Mine has his on backwards. It doesn't matter though. The shininess detracts from that so no-one will notice that he's - not like other astro droids so to speak...... :)

kadamontaga

11-09-2002, 05:23 AM

Has the promo at TRU started yet?

jedi_uk73

11-09-2002, 05:34 AM

I popped into TRU again on Thursday, still no sign of the offer yet. :(

kadamontaga

11-09-2002, 05:51 AM

Ach!! I just got my girlfriend to phone them again and they had no idea what she was talking about.

Humph :(

Emperors_Hand_2211

11-09-2002, 09:57 AM

I went in to TRU B'ham this morning and there was nothing in the offing.
They did have tatooine attack Anakin and Sith Training Darth Maul though.
Hope it comes soon I wanted one to take to memorabilia next weekend so I could get it signed. Seemed a cool idea since it'll be the only figure I own that will stay in it's packaging.

jedi_uk73

11-09-2002, 10:18 AM

Fortunately I already have 2 Silver R2's, I dont plan on getting anymore, but I'm keeping an eye out so I can let others know that they are about.

Originally posted by Emperors_Hand_2211
Hope it comes soon I wanted one to take to memorabilia next weekend so I could get it signed.

I will be taking 1 of mine next weekend to Memo. Hopefully I can get in the 3hr waiting queue and get Kenny Baker to sign it.

Jargo

11-09-2002, 04:12 PM

When i spoke to the lady merchandiser she seemed a little surprised that I knew about the promotion. She also seemed reluctant to talk about it and asked me where I'd heard about it. I said "on the internet" and she nodded sagely before telling me about the time scale and the fact that they'd got lovely t-shirts for the whole thing. I have a feeling she thought we were company men sent to check up on her since we had more knowledge of the subject than the staff but she was really nice and very confident that it would be starting around the week of the DVD release. Well it's the 11th on monday so i would suspect that from next week would be a good time to start looking seriously. If the TRU managers have had the same clampdown as the American managers did, that's why no-one is talkative and seem to have no knowledge of the deal. If I'm right, the staff won't get briefed until the last minute so you might have to chew a few ears before you get one. Anyone in the Chester area should look out for Beryl at the cashiers desk, a mature lady who is always really helpful and really clued up about the promotions. She always makes sure I walk away with whatever is on offer even if it's just a fun pack of kellog's frosties or a soft drink. If I had the chance to give an award for most helpful staff member it would be Beryl who got the gold star. She's grrrrrreat! :)
But yeah, they should know something about the deal from monday if that lady merchandiser is right. Just keep asking and sooner or later someone will talk. The only other reason for a delay would be the late shipping of republic gunships which might put the R2 deal back to the last week of the month when the gunships arrive. That's around the 20th I believe. But it seems more likely to be around the twelth that the deal starts.

kadamontaga

11-11-2002, 12:40 PM

Has it started yet? Has it started yet? Has it started yet?

Yu_

11-11-2002, 02:00 PM

Nope. probably not untill the 15th is what I was told by the guy at TRU in newcastle.... he didn't klnow if it was the 15th of Nov. or Dec. but I would be thinking Nov.

Jargo

11-11-2002, 02:23 PM

Well that's close to the twelfth at least...... :D

Gibbon666

11-12-2002, 04:26 AM

Just called Manchester TRU - no offer yet and they haven't got the R2's in stock as yet.

Gibbon666

11-12-2002, 05:05 AM

And Stockport TRU don't have them yet - the woman there seemed a lot more certain than Manchester were.

Wonder if I should call Leeds...

kadamontaga

11-17-2002, 12:36 PM

Has it started yet.
I hope not. Our stupid landlord has closed our carpark for a couple of weeks and we've left the car with family.

Yu_

11-18-2002, 01:53 PM

Nope, but I had an interesting phone conversation with a supervisor from the Newcastle shop, she said that they know nothing about it and are not likely to until a day or so before it starts, the courier comes on a Friday morning so thatís the best time to check with them.. They did have an offer on whereby if you spend £10.00 or more on starwars you get a ďmovie programĒ as it terns out it actually a nice little book (quite big as well considering itís free) with lots of Ep.II info in it. Worth it if they have anything you need to get anyway. (itís not the same one that was given away at the cinema btw this is much nicer, and a lot longer.) Iím hoping for this Fri on the silver R2ís but Iím not holding my breathÖ

Jargo

11-18-2002, 02:19 PM

Maybe it'll start when they get the republic gunships arrive then. Most worrying is this news. Seek TRU lady merchandiser must I...

Darth Nanny

11-22-2002, 03:16 AM

Reports are being posted on TPU that the Silver R2 has started to show up at TRU. Any confirmations if this is true for all stores, and if so do you have to spend £30 to get one?

Jargo

11-22-2002, 05:14 AM

From what i read, they've been putting him on the pegs with a price tag of £29.99. Sounds like the management have been fed bad information about what they're supposed to be doing with this. maybe they decided that since everyone probably already has the figures they want why not just charge them the same amount and let them just buy the figure. But that in itself is wrong because the figure only has a cash value of 1p. If they charged £10 for one I'd reckon it was a okay but £30 is way too much. For a TRU giveaway that is. Haven't been to TRU in a while so i can't say what's going on in Liverpool or Chester but the last time I was there Beryl my friendly cashier was too busy to talk so i couldn't ask about the deal.

Yu_

11-23-2002, 04:19 AM

It has started today, and from what I have been told you have to spend £45.00 to get one. Damn if thats not a rip off... :( this came directly from the guy at TrU on the phone, I'm going to have a look in there today and see if they have anything worth 45 I sort of doubt it though....

jedi_uk73

11-23-2002, 05:15 AM

£45 ?? Geez, TRU are having a laugh aren't they ?

The Silver R2 WAS supposed to be a spend £30 get it free, but some stores had apparently put it on shelves for £30 each.

Glad I got mine elsewhere, and cheaper :D

For a £45 spend, I suppose the Gunship and a regular figure will be enough to get it.

kadamontaga

11-23-2002, 09:52 AM

Got mine from TRU Derby today. Spend £30 to get one.
Bit of an anticlimax really. Shiny piece of crap.

Got 2 of em though :D

U.K.BOY

11-23-2002, 11:43 AM

Its definitely a deal of, spend £30 on S.W. and get a "free" Silver R2.

The bloke at TRU that the earlier poster spoke to must have been a reet muppet.There are a few good/helpful people at TRU's: you just have to wade through the majority Teenage spotty faced couldn't give a crud, can't be bothered to listen or help you out employees, to get to the good ones.Shame really, but lets be fair, thats what it's like in the majority of U.K. retail.Almost like school these days breeds em like it.Summat about GCSE's maybe ??.

Good luck to everybody in their hunt and grrrrrrrrr at Reading TRU for not having the Gunship yet.

UKBOY.

Yu_

11-23-2002, 12:26 PM

Right I went down any way to see if they had anything worth but ing and thats when the problems started ... I asked the first person I could if they had any left and was told NO they had been on the shelves and they are all gone, as this was taking place another employee said oh no they are behind the customer services desk.. and you have to spend £40.00 not £45.00.. they had no idea basically so they went off to ask, 10 min. later they came back yes they are behind the customer services desk, and you have to spend £30.00 wtf? How difficult is it to work out? I mean they work thereÖ anyway off I went to spend £30.00 (there was nothing there.. man it was bad, they had some Monís and one Cloud city Chewie, but aside from that it was all the same stuff, I just bought a few things I hadnít bothered with in the past and headed for the customer services desk, this is what ****ed me off, there is no advertisement that you can have one of these things no posters no promotion of any sort, when I asked the guy looked at me like I was insane and ran off to find his supervisor, who came over and said oh that .. We only have ONE when I asked what had happened to the rest she said and I quote ďwe canít find them, it looks like there gone..Ē i.e. out the back door.. someone has made some money out of the TRU in NewcastleÖ I got mine and to be honest itís nice but Iím a bit disgusted with the way they have done this, promotional item means you promote it, why the hell would Hasbro ever do something like this again? It was meant to increase sales if it had worked we probably would have had more stuff like this now well no one new about it and they all went walkys.. TRU really do suck sometimes..

kdp100

11-23-2002, 07:23 PM

Went to my local TRU today (London Brent X).

Good news - as well as a fair variety of Saga figures (looks like they've cleared away a lot of the pegwarmers) they've got the gunship in stock for £39.99 (although I bought mine elsewhere about 2 months ago).

Bad news - no sign of any silver R2s.

Seems a bit barmy really, offering a figure free with a certain amount spent, when there's very little NEW product being brought out to coincide with it!

Emperors_Hand_2211

11-25-2002, 01:50 AM

Will try B'ham later today and report back.

I won't be holding my breath.

Darth Nanny

11-25-2002, 08:10 AM

It is the same situation at Coventry TRU. Very little new stock for you to spend £30 on - Flipping Anakin, Deluxe Geonosian :(
However, I hear some people are buying the AOTC DVD and a couple of basic figures and getting a free R2 :eek: Does this offer therefore include SW Lego as well - I hope so. This way I should be able to make up the shortfall until TRU put some better stock out!

jedi_uk73

11-25-2002, 11:25 AM

Reports over on TPU that popcornlive have cancelled all preorders of the Silver R2.

They have them for sale for £29.99 instead.

Apparently, the preorder price was TOO cheap for them as they had no official price at the time.

Emperors_Hand_2211

11-27-2002, 05:22 AM

OK went to toys are us b'ham mon and got this look :confused:
Spoke to guy who merchandises the sw toys, who is incidently a muppet, and he said to check back tomorrow after deliveries.
Did that yesterday. Got this look :confused:
BUT did get toys'r'us head office number.
Rang them. They are of the opinion that the offer should have begun on Saturday.
They are currently trying to track down a silver R2 figure at a store near me.
Now I vaguely remember Hasbro UK saying there would be plenty to go around.
I'm beginning to think that this meant enough to go around for those who know about the offer. Given the complete absence of any point of sale or advertising I'd say that the number of people who
a. know about it
b. want one
is pretty much limited to the ten or so people who regularly post on this board.
I therefore believe there to be only ten silver R2s in the whole country and that they are simply moving them steadily around every UK store until the ten of us each have one.

If this is the standard of organisation that is going to surround offers like this in the future, e.g. the Jarg offer, then Hasbro may as well not bother. It's becomming far more hastle than it's worth.

I am at least in the enviable situation of having bought only two saga figures since release so should t'r'u manage to track one down for me I will at least be able to spend the 30 pound required to get one.

Rant over :mad:

Emperors_Hand_2211

11-27-2002, 07:11 AM

Neither B'ham nor Oldbury have any R2D2s.
Apparently however Coventry and Solihull do.
????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What the f***k
So basically assuming this was indeed a nationwide offer then B'ham and Oldbury's quota's have gone out the back door onto E-Bay.

On the plus side the woman I spoke to at head office was extremely helpful and rang me back once she had contacted each store in the west midlands and confirmed if they had any R2s.
But in general this whole promotionless promotion has been a complete farse from beginning to end.

Oh well let's see what happens with the entertainer.

kadamontaga

11-27-2002, 08:44 AM

TRU are a bunch of muppets.
At the one in Derby they did actually have some in-store adverts in the form of little cardboard thingys sticking out from the pegs on which the figures were hung. The cards said something to the meaning of buy £30 of stuff and get an R2. They didn't look like a rush job, so I'd imagine all stores should have had them, whether they put them out or not is another matter.

If anyone's interested I've got an R2 for trade, but I'd like Simpsons stuff in return. See my thread in the trading forum for more.